Little Blue Bulletin 6/9-6/13

The year is winding down, and we are gearing up for the summer! Next week there will be several exciting events await for your child to experience. Please read the following notes carefully.


Monterey Bay Aquarium on Monday
We are going to the aquarium on Monday. It should be a great day. We are leaving at 8:15, so be to school on time! Please remember to bring the following items:
•sack lunch
•sweatshirt
•good attitude


Field Day on Tuesday
The whole school is going to enjoy a morning full of games and fun activities, such as sponge toss, jump rope, and running relay. Please remember the following items to make it a successful day.
•a water bottle with your name on it
•comfortable and cool clothing
•athletic shoes (no sandals)
•eat a healthy breakfast
•wear a smile and use teamwork ☺

Reading "Field Trip" on Wednesday
It's not a real field trip! But we will have lots of fun reading books with our teammates on the lawn. Bring the following items to school:
* Two of your favorite books (with your name)
* A beach towel or blanket
* Sun glasses or sun hats (optional)

Important reminder--School will be closed on Thursday at 11:20am. Please arrange pick up. See you on August 7th!

Note from the principal:
Direct Donation Drive 2008:

We’re still in need of your donations. The Murdock-Portal School Community Organization (PSCO) has been created and organized with the primary purpose of making parent resources (money, materials and time) available to our children. Parents contribute toward funding various enrichment activities such as art, hands-on-science, music, PE, instructional aides, and assemblies to name a few.

Our Donations Goal this year is to raise 260K. The PSCO collects only the direct donation of $400 per child and uses this to fund all the enrichment programs. Your donation is tax deductible.

We also launched a new "Technology Fund" this year, to ensure ongoing technology upgrades are available for our innovative programs. Please consider adding your $100 donation per family, for this new initiative. This Fund was launched instead of increasing the Direct Donation amount per child, and will ensure that funds are used exclusively for technology upgrades and equipment. This donation is also tax-deductible.

If you have already donated, we thank you for your financial support to make Murdock-Portal a success year after year. If you have not sent in your donation, please send it in today!
Plus! All Donations received by June 16th, will receive a 2008 Entertainment Book, full of great coupons and discounts for shopping, dining and kids activities in Santa Clara.

Thank you!

Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin 6/02-6/06

We are counting down our days of school and we are now in the single digit numbers! Only nine days left. Our megaskill this month is perseverance and we are all in need. Please talk to your children and discuss what it means to show this very valuable skill. We started school almost 180 days ago and need to complete this year on a good note. Some kids have been getting a little too excited about being out for the summer and are forgetting to make wise choices. We need to work hard the next two weeks!

BOB BARNER was kind enough to come to school and sing, draw, and read to us on Monday. I think we all had a great time. You can check him out: www.bobbarner.com

Click here for updated calendar!

Reminders:

Wednesday, June 11th: Lunch on the Lawn
Friday, June 13th: SPIRIT DAY: Portal T-shirt day
Tuesday, June 17th: Field Day. Parent Volunteers and Alumni needed. Please sign up!

Sharing:

Week of 6/06: Your favorite ocean creature
That's it for the school year!

Let's make our last sharing topic fun and interesting. We can't wait to see and hear all about your favorite ocean creature.

Book Bags:
The last book bag goes home today! PLEASE remember to read over the summer. Practice your summaries and your favorite parts! Have some D.E.A.R. time--Drop Everything And Read at least once a day.

Language Arts:
Spelling Helpers!!! Monday's spelling will be at 8:30. This will also be our last week of spelling, so again we can't thank you enough for volunteering the entire year! WOW! We couldn't make this program work without your help.

Students can practice their narrative writing over the summer. Use this as a guide!
Beginning - characters and setting
Middle - 2-3 events that happened to the character
End - the solutions, finish up the story


Math:
We are back in addition and subtraction so remember to practice, practice, practice. The kids can use fishy crackers to make different fact families. We are also practicing our problem solving skills. Don't forget to use pictures, numbers, and words to show your answer. First graders could draw pictures to practice regroup. It helps if they can also memorize their facts. Keep up the good work.


Science:
We are enjoying our new unit on our ocean geography and marine life. We are learning about all of the oceans in the world and what makes each special. It should be a great unit before our end of the year field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Their website is awesome, be sure to check it out.

www.mbayaq.org/

Social Science:
Megaskill:
This week we started to discuss PERSEVERANCE. It means "finish what you start." See the note above and work on this at home.

Besides megaskills, we also learned more about our neighborhood. We talked about people who work at school, and how they help us every day. Ask you child to name as many school workers as he/she can!

Note from the principal:
Direct Donation Drive 2008:

We’re still in need of your donations. The Murdock-Portal School Community Organization (PSCO) has been created and organized with the primary purpose of making parent resources (money, materials and time) available to our children. Parents contribute toward funding various enrichment activities such as art, hands-on-science, music, PE, instructional aides, and assemblies to name a few.

Our Donations Goal this year is to raise 260K. The PSCO collects only the direct donation of $400 per child and uses this to fund all the enrichment programs. Your donation is tax deductible.

We also launched a new "Technology Fund" this year, to ensure ongoing technology upgrades are available for our innovative programs. Please consider adding your $100 donation per family, for this new initiative. This Fund was launched instead of increasing the Direct Donation amount per child, and will ensure that funds are used exclusively for technology upgrades and equipment. This donation is also tax-deductible.

If you have already donated, we thank you for your financial support to make Murdock-Portal a success year after year. If you have not sent in your donation, please send it in today!
Plus! All Donations received by June 16th, will receive a 2008 Entertainment Book, full of great coupons and discounts for shopping, dining and kids activities in Santa Clara.

Thank you!

Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin: 5/27-5/30

Little Blue is having fun!!! Our Tribute to Our Moms ans Dads was a big success. It is so nice to be at a school with so much parent support. Our kids did a great job singing and we love you too! Thank you all for coming.

Click here for updated calendar!

Reminders:
Monday, June 2nd: Author Bob Barner visits our school. We should have a fun morning.
check him out: www.bobbarner.com
Tuesday, June 3rd: Community Builder-Fresh Choice (look in today's book bag for flyer)
Tuesday, June 3rd: Volunteer Brunch. Join us to thank all our hard working volunteers (feel free to bring younger siblings if necessary.)
Wednesday, June 11th: Lunch on the Lawn

Sharing:

Week of 6/02: What you hope to do this summer
Week of 6/06: Your favorite ocean creature
That's it for the school year!

Preparation Tips: PLEASE TRY TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING TOPIC SENTENCE! Try a question, a poem, or a song. Brainstorm ideas first.
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about. DO NOT introduce yourself or say "Hello, class".
2. Add 2 or 3 sentences to describe your topic. Use transition words such as first, next, last.
3. Stand up straight, look at your audience, and speak clearly.

Something extra: Bring a picture to show your audience!

Book Bags:
Book bags will be coming home on Friday. Thank you for remembering to return all parts of the book bag on Thursday morning.

Language Arts:
Spelling Helpers!!! Note our spelling on Monday will be at 8:10. Thanks and please plan accordingly.

Last week we started writing naratives stories. The students did a wonderful job planning. Beginning - characters and setting
Middle - 2-3 events that happened to the character
End - Finish up the story
They could always practice this format at home for fun.

Math:
We have started our skills groups again. We are back in addition and subtraction. Practice, practice, practice. The kids can use fishy crackers to make different fact families. First graders could use them to regroup. It helps if they can also memorize their facts. Keep up the good work.


Science:
We started our new unit on our ocean geography and ocean life. Bob Barner has a book called Fish Wish so he inspired us to create an awesome bulletin board. We will learn about all of the oceans in the world and what makes each special. It should be a great unit before our end of the year field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Social Science:
Megaskill:
This week we have reviewing May's Megaskill: Common Sense. This is a great topic to discuss at home. How do you use common sense at home and school?

REMEMBER: another aspect of social studies is current events. Cyclone in Myanmar, earthquake in China, and fire in Santa Cruz Mountains are all relevant to us. Talk with your child about how people need shelter, clean water, food, and medicine. Brainstorm with your child about how we can help. One way to help is to give money. A parent from the Adelie village is coordinating a fund raising drive for the people of China who have been affected by the powerful earthquake. The checks can be made out to "The Mercy Corps" or cash is also accepted in the school office. Mercy Corps received a 4-star rating on Charity Navigator -- which is the highest rating possible.

Thanks in advance for your generosity.

Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin: 2/25-2/29

We hope you had a restful break. Conference slips were sent home on Thursday. Please send your response slip back as soon as possible so your teacher can prepare. If you need to reshcedle, please call the office promptly to reschedule with our secretaries. We look forward to meeting you all at conferences.

Click here for updated calendar!

Morning Procedures:
Start the week off right by getting to school on time. Students should be dropped off between 7:45-7:55. It's important that your child has time to unpack and get ready for the day. It's very disruptive when your child is late!

Sharing:
Week of 3/03: Ways to spend a rainy day
Week of 3/10: Memorize a spring song or poem

Preparation Tips: PLEASE TRY TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING TOPIC SENTENCE! Try a question, a poem, or a song. Brainstorm ideas first.
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about. DO NOT introduce yourself or say "Hello, class".
2. Add 2 or 3 sentences to describe your topic. Use transition words such as first, next, last.
3. Stand up straight, look at your audience, and speak clearly.

Something extra: Bring a picture to show your audience!

Book Bags:
Book bags resume this week. There is no school on Friday. It is very important that bags (journals, book, direction sheet, and homework) return on Thursday so we can pass out bags again that day. If your child is sick, please send the bag with another student or drop it off before school. Thank you.

Language Arts:
This week we practiced our beginning blends. Do a word search around your home to find objects that start with str, st, sp, sr, or sw.

On Monday, we had a great assembly from Burst! The students enjoyed learning more about being creative and using their imagination. We returned to reading response journals on Wednesday. The students are making great connections, especially the newly introduced "text-to-world" connection. We read a farm book to kick off our new unit. We finished off the week by doing activities kick-off our big farm unit starting on Monday. Beware... your students may want to shout "Yee-haw" and ask you to buy some chickens for the backyard.

Teammate of the Week:
We continued our expository writing program this week. Each student in our village will have a chance to be "Teammate of the Week". This is a great opportunity for students to share information about themselves with their family rooms. As students learn about the Teammate of the Week, they will be writing an expository paragraph using Step Up to Writing Program. We will be keeping the writing at school to create a book for each child. Not only is this a wonderful memory of our classmates, but a great writing portfolio too.

Math:
We finished our investigations on measurement this week. We learned more about capacity and measurement. Ask you child if he/she is a square or a rectangle.
Please practice counting coins at home for preparation for our next unit. Students are learning how to identify coins and count coins.

Social Science:
Today we learned a little more about leap year. We discussed the rotation of the Earth around the sun and the days in a year. We also made origami "Leaping Frogs" to celebrate the special day. It was interesting to see the students follow multi-step directions. Many were able to make more frogs on their own.

March 2 is Dr. Seuss's Birthday!
Visit the website to learn more about our favorite author. Bring a book by Dr. Seuss to share on Monday!

Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers

February 11-15

Vacation February 17-22. Please take the time to rest, play, and relax. Our students all need some time to get healthy again. Have fun! See you on February 25th.

Click here for updated calendar!

Morning Procedures:
Start the week off right by getting to school on time. Students should be dropped off between 7:45-7:55. It's important that your child has time to unpack and get ready for the day. It's very disruptive when your child is late!

Sharing:
Week of 2/25: If I were President of the United States
Week of 3/03: Ways to spend a rainy day

Preparation Tips: PLEASE TRY TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING TOPIC SENTENCE! Try a question, a poem, or a song. Brainstorm ideas first.
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about. DO NOT introduce yourself or say "Hello, class".
2. Add 2 or 3 sentences to describe your topic. Use transition words such as first, next, last.
3. Stand up straight, look at your audience, and speak clearly.

Something extra: Bring a picture to show your audience!

Book Bags:
No book bags the week of Febuary 25th. Please look for a homework packet in your child's spelling folder on Monday. Book bags will resume on February 29th.


Language Arts:
This week we worked on oi/oy and ay sounds. Practice these word families at home.

This week we continued learning about the many holidays in February. We read more about Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president, and George Washington, our 1st president. It was interesting learning why these two men where good citizens.
The kids did a great time prepping valentines this year. They loved exchanging valentines. It was fun to see how creative our students can get.

Teammate of the Week:
We continued our expository writing program this week. Each student in our village will have a chance to be "Teammate of the Week". This is a great opportunity for students to share information about themselves with their family rooms. As students learn about the Teammate of the Week, they will be writing an expository paragraph using Step Up to Writing Program. We will be keeping the writing at school to create a book for each child. Not only is this a wonderful memory of our classmates, but a great writing portfolio too.


Math:
We started our math investigations strand this week. The students did projects in his/her family rooms. We spent time measuring classroom objects, learning about symmetry, and practicing our graphing. It was busy and active this week.

Science:
Do you know what fabric is the best to wear on a rainy day? We did experiments this week to test different kinds of fabrics with water. Ask your child about the results. You may change your jacket next time you go out in a rainstorm.



Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin: 2/4-2/8

Thank You's
Special Thanks to all the parents who came in to present and help out during Chinese New Year. It was awesome!

• Valentine's Day is coming! Please check your child's book bag for special directions about our valentine exchange on Thursday, February 14th.
  

Click here for updated calendar!

Morning Procedures:
It's important that students arrive to school BEFORE 8:00 A.M. The drop off is very light between 7:45-7:50. Remember to get a head start on rainy days. We have too many students arriving after announcements start. This is very disruptive to the class, and doesn't give your child significant time to prepare for the day.

Sharing:
Week of 2/11: Measurement project: How I measure my room
Week of 2/25: If I were President of the United States

Preparation Tips: PLEASE TRY TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING TOPIC SENTENCE! Try a question, a poem, or a song. Brainstorm ideas first.
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about. DO NOT introduce yourself or say "Hello, class".
2. Add 2 or 3 sentences to describe your topic. Use transition words such as first, next, last.
3. Stand up straight, look at your audience, and speak clearly.

Something extra: Bring a picture to show your audience!

Book Bags:
Please remember to return the bag on Thursdays. If your child is going to be absent on Thursday, please arrange someone else to drop off the book bag. Thank you!


Language Arts:
We are working on long e words this week. Please check in your child's spelling folder for his/her 5 study words.

In reading investigations, we learned about Chinese New Year and Abraham Lincoln. With our wonderful parent volunteers, we had a great celebration consisting a slide show, food tasting, red envelopes, and craft. In this week's Scholastic News, children learned about how Abe Lincoln lived in a log-cabin and had a very different lifestyle from us. We also brainstormed how to show confidence in our daily activities.

Teammate of the Week:
We continued our expository writing program this week. Each student in our village will have a chance to be "Teammate of the Week". This is a great opportunity for students to share information about themselves with their family rooms. As students learn about the Teammate of the Week, they will be writing an expository paragraph using Step Up to Writing Program. We will be keeping the writing at school to create a book for each child. Not only is this a wonderful memory of our classmates, but a great writing portfolio too.


Math:
The highlight of the week was the 100th days of school. We made a crown to wear throughout the day, and we counted and mixed many hundreds of snack gorps that consist of cheerios, rice chex, marshmellow, prezels, and goldfish. They had a lot of fun!

This week we continued learning new things about measurement. Students worked on using a ruler to measure length accurately. We learned the difference between inches and centimeters. We are also learning about weight, and capacity. This is a great way to practice using the measuring cups in your kitchen. Try baking together!


Science:
We are winding down on our science unit. Children continue to record weather by tallying in their science journal. We also had hands-on activities on reading temperature and comparing different fabrics.



Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin: 1/28-2/1

The Performance is done!
Yeah! Our children have done a wonderful job performing on Wednesday night. A special thank you to all parent volunteers who helped throughout the entire production.

A few things are happening in Little Blue Village:

• Valentine's Day is coming! Please check your child's book bag for special directions about our valentine exchange on Thursday, February 14th.
  
• Groundhog's Day is tomorrow! Check the website tomorrow to see if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow. And maybe spring is on its way! www.punxsutawneyphil.com
• 100 days of school celebration We will celebrate 100th days of school on Monday. Children will be counting and enjoying healthy treats in class. Make sure you congratulate them for what they've achieved this year!
  

Click here for updated calendar!

Morning Procedures:
It's important that students arrive to school BEFORE 8:00 A.M. The drop off is very light between 7:45-7:50. Remember to get a head start on rainy days. We have too many students arriving after announcements start. This is very disruptive to the class, and doesn't give your child significant time to prepare for the day.

Sharing:
Week of 2/04: How you would spend $100
Week of 2/11: Measurement project: How I measure my room

Please remember to turn in your Measurement Project by Feb. 7th.

Preparation Tips: PLEASE TRY TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING TOPIC SENTENCE! Try a question, a poem, or a song. Brainstorm ideas first.
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about. DO NOT introduce yourself or say "Hello, class".
2. Add 2 or 3 sentences to describe your topic. Use transition words such as first, next, last.
3. Stand up straight, look at your audience, and speak clearly.

Something extra: Bring a picture to show your audience!

Book Bags:
Please remember to return the bag on Thursdays. If you have any questions, please contact your family room teacher.


Language Arts:
We are working on long e words this week. Please check in your child's spelling folder for his/her 5 study words. If you have not returned your child's spelling folder, please have it at school on Monday.

In reading investigations, we continued our study about snow. We practiced how to build good sentences by adding describing words and prepositional phrases. Earlier this week, we spent some time preparing for our play. Finally we finished the month of January by writing about our favorite memory this month and talking about our megaskill, effort.

Teammate of the Week:
We continued our expository writing program this week. Each student in our village will have a chance to be "Teammate of the Week". This is a great opportunity for students to share information about themselves with their family rooms. As students learn about the Teammate of the Week, they will be writing an expository paragraph using Step Up to Writing Program. We will be keeping the writing at school to create a book for each child. Not only is this a wonderful memory of our classmates, but a great writing portfolio too.


Math:
This week we continued learning new things about measurement. Students worked on using a ruler to measure length accurately. We learned the difference between inches and centimeters. We are also learning about weight, and capicity. This is a great way to practice using the measuring cups in your kitchen. Try baking together!


Science:
What a crazy weather week. We had rain, fog, and sunshine! Little Blue has many meteorologists in training!



Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers

Little Blue Bulletin: 1/21-1/25

The Performance is here!
Here are a few important play reminders.
On Monday and Tuesday, please send your child to school wearing black pants, a short sleeve t-shirt, and athletic shoes. We will be providing other pieces for our dress rehearsals.
On Wednesday night, please bring your child to school by 6:10 P.M. He/She should wear black pants, short sleeves, and athletic shoes. Students will meet in his/her family room to prepare for the performance.

Click here for updated calendar!

Morning Procedures:
It's important that students arrive to school BEFORE 8:00 A.M. The drop off is very light between 7:45-7:50. Remember to get a head start on rainy days. We have too many students arriving after announcements start. This is very disruptive to the class, and doesn't give your child significant time to prepare for the day.

Sharing:
Week of 1/28: Your favorite type of weather
Week of 2/04: How you would spend $100

Please look for special sharing project being sent home in the book bag on January 25th. It will prepare for our SPECIAL sharing for the week of 2/11.

Preparation Tips: PLEASE TRY TO COME UP WITH AN INTERESTING TOPIC SENTENCE! Try a question, a poem, or a song. Brainstorm ideas first.
1. Start with your topic sentence to tell your audience what you're going to share about. DO NOT introduce yourself or say "Hello, class".
2. Add 2 or 3 sentences to describe your topic. Use transition words such as first, next, last.
3. Stand up straight, look at your audience, and speak clearly.

Something extra: Bring a picture to show your audience!

Book Bags:
Please remember to return the bag on Thursdays. If you have any questions, please contact your family room teacher.


Language Arts:
Spelling resumes the week of 1/28. Please check in your child's spelling folder for his/her 5 study words. If you have not returned your child's spelling folder, please have it at school on Monday.

In reading investigations, we have been studying about snow. Not everyone gets to play in the snow and make a snowman, so we make our snowmen at school! We read a few stories about snowmen and polar bears; we built a snowman with tear art; and we wrote a similie poem describing polar bears. Children also have been working on making good story connections with the books we have read.

Teammate of the Week:
We continued our expository writing program this week. Each student in our village will have a chance to be "Teammate of the Week". This is a great opportunity for students to share information about themselves with their family rooms. As students learn about the Teammate of the Week, they will be writing an expository paragraph using Step Up to Writing Program. We will be keeping the writing at school to create a book for each child. Not only is this a wonderful memory of our classmates, but a great writing portfolio too.


Math:
We began our new unit on measurement. Students are working on measuring the height and length of objects. We have been using non-standard measurement systems (paper clips, name tags, markers) and standard units (inches and centimeters). Please practice measuring items around your house too!
Don't forget to look for the SPECIAL measurement project coming home on January 25th! It's due on Feb. 7.

Science:
We have been very busy catching drops on rain in our rain gauges, measuring wind speed, and tracking the temperature with our thermometers. Little Blue has many meteorologists in training!

Volunteers Needed:
Chinese New Year is coming. We need some parents to help with projects, donate food items, and prep for craft materials. If you are available, please email your family room teacher.


Have a good weekend,
Little Blue Teachers

Play Madness!

 We are all so busy with the play we will take a short break from updating our newsletter. It is PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! Make sure to have your child sing for you and practice any lines they might have. Ask them to smile and make sure to speak and sing clearly. Thanks, we appreciate your support at home.

snowmen

Hi,
We have been reading a lot about snowmen. The kids did a great job drawing a snowmen family and we have created a great quilt out in the hall. Make sure to poke your head in and check it out. Let it SNOW!